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DC Circulator workers authorize strike

Shuler: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation is a victory for working people⁠ -- and democracy

Reading Opens the World Book Palooza and Community Fair

Latest from the Claimant Advocacy Program

Today's Labor Quote

Today's Labor History

 

[link removed] LABOR CALENDAR; click here for latest listings

Union City Radio: 7:15am daily

WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; [link removed] click here to hear today's report

DCNA Strike Leafleting: Fri, April 8, 7am - Sat, April 9, 9am

5th & V - HUH Ambulatory Care entrance ([link removed] map)

2041 Georgia Ave - HUH Main Entrance ([link removed] map)

DCNA Strike Leafleting (University Quad): Fri, April 8, 12pm - Sat, April 9, 2pm

6th & Howard Place - University Quad ([link removed] map)

DCNA Strike Leafleting: Fri, April 8, 5pm - Sat, April 9, 7pm

2041 Georgia Ave - HUH Main Entrance ([link removed] map)

Reading Opens the World Book Palooza & Community Fair: Sat, April 9, 10am - 3pm

Washington Tennis & Education Foundation 200 Stoddert Place SE Washington, DC 20019 ([link removed] map)

For DC Ward 7 and 8 Families.

Missed this week's Your Rights At Work radio show? Catch the podcast here: [link removed] Amazon workers notch historic win. American Prospect editor at large HAROLD MEYERSON on the historic win at the Amazon JFK8 warehouse; DCNA Exec. Dir. Ed Smith on the upcoming HUH strike; longtime security officer JUDITH HOWELL on why commercial security officers need a contract (photo of Weds 32BJ SEIU demo); AFSCME Local 2401 chief shop steward ROGER SCOTT on demands by DC City workers for telework.


DC Circulator workers authorize strike

Bus operators for the DC Circulator have authorized a strike. The drivers, employed by private contractor RATP Dev, say they're "sick and tired of being overworked, underpaid, and disrespected," reports their union, ATU 689. Turnout for the vote, which won 96% approval, was strong and several workers drove in on their day off in order to vote. Over the last few years, Local 689 members have won strikes at WMATA's Cinder Bed Road Garage, Fairfax Connector, and the MetroAccess Call Center.

Howard University Hospital nurses to strike April 11

Nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers at Howard University Hospital - members of the DC Nurses Association - on Friday announced they'll hold a one-day strike beginning 7:30 AM Monday morning, April 11, to demand a fair contract and safe staffing to protect patients. At issue are pay cuts and staffing issues. "It really comes down to treating us with dignity and respect," said RN Jeanette Ethridge. "They are understaffing in the hospital, and they are taking from us as costs continue to rise." Howard University in 2020 turned hospital management over to corporate giant Adventist Health, which posted over $100 million in profits last year, while DCNA nurses say staffing issues have gotten worse. Of particular concern are more experienced nurses, some of whom have dedicated themselves to Howard University Hospital students and the community for decades, but whose pay is undermined by the hospital's proposals. DCNA represents over 300 nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and social workers at HUH. "These hard-working people are not equations, they are human beings," said Graylan Hagler, Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. "We know healthcare workers are heroes. Howard University should treat them like heroes." Howard University walked away from the bargaining table last month and has ignored requests to return. photo: DCNA rally January 13; photo by Chris Garlock/Union City


Shuler: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation is a victory for working people⁠ -- and democracy

Statement from AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on the Senate's vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court:

Today's historic confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court ushers in a new era for our country, and we congratulate her on this extraordinary achievement. Throughout her confirmation hearings, Judge Jackson demonstrated why she is more than deserving of a seat on the bench. She personified grace and integrity in the face of many outrageous attacks on her character and impeccable credentials. Judge Jackson has the experience, temperament and commitment to ensure the judicial fairness we need in an associate justice. Her intellect, legal knowledge and record of upholding justice under the law will be invaluable as she makes decisions that directly impact the lives of working people, and champions equal rights. Judge Jackson's life story and the milestone she has reached send a potent message to women and girls across this nation that nothing⁠--not even a seat on our highest court⁠--is out of their reach.


Judge Jackson's confirmation is a victory for our democracy and our nation, and we look forward to her serving on the bench for a very long time.

Reading Opens the World Book Palooza and Community Fair

If you live in Ward 7 or Ward 8 in the District, you're invited to the Reading Opens the World Book Palooza and Community Fair tomorrow from 10am to 3pm at the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, 200 Stoddert Place Southeast. The Washington Teachers Union and their friends - including WTEF, AFT and other community groups -- will be distributing 40,000 free books, plus there will be free covid vaccines, a fire truck, McGruff the Crime Dog, tennis activities and food from the World Central Kitchen.


Latest from the Claimant Advocacy Program

The Metro Council's Claimant Advocacy Program (CAP) page has been updated.[link removed] CLICK HERE for the latest information on federal unemployment benefits offered through the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as descriptions of expired federal unemployment benefits, or view the End of Benefits FAQs to learn more about the conclusion of these programs. There's also a link for reporting Unemployment Insurance fraud.


Today's labor quote: Joe Biden

"The choice to join a union belongs to workers alone. By the way, Amazon, here we come."

Biden was speaking at the national conference of North America's Building Trades Unions this week.

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

This week's Labor History Today podcast: [link removed] Michael Honey on Dr, King: "All Labor Has Dignity"; Last week's show: [link removed] Industrial murder at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.


April 8
128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state's shameful convict lease system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses - 1911

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project - 1935

President Harry S Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize the nation's steel mills to avert a strike. The Supreme Court ruled the act illegal three weeks later - 1952

April 9
IWW organizes the 1,700 member crew of the Leviathan, then the world's largest vessel - 1930

April 10

Birth date of Frances Perkins, named Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, becoming the first woman to hold a cabinet-level office - 1880

Birth of Dolores Huerta, a co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers - 1930

Tens of thousands of immigrants demonstrate in 100 U.S. cities in a national day of action billed as a campaign for immigrants' dignity. Some 200,000 gathered in Washington, D.C. - 2006

- David Prosten

 

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Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members.

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